Help Reggie Find Love

Endangered species need love too - which is why The Body Shop unveiled plans for its new Bio-Bridges program. Bio-Bridges are restored wildlife corridors within damaged landscapes that help endangered species reconnect, enabling them and local communities to thrive. The new program aims to regenerate 75 million square metres of forest and protect it from exploitation, poaching and unsustainable harvesting.

Another integral part of the program is to engage the local communities in the long term protection of the bio bridge habitat by helping to provide a more sustainable way of life from them for the people who live in and around the surrounding areas.

The Body Shop sources ingredients from all around the world, and protecting global biodiversity ensures a long-term, healthy and thriving environment for these ingredients, as well as protecting the planet from the effects of climate change. The Bio- Bridges program is one element of The Body Shop’s Enrich Not Exploit Commitment, which aims to make The Body Shop the most ethical and truly sustainable global business in the world.

The first project is in Khe Nuoc Trong forest of North Central Vietnam, home of rare species such as the Red Shanked Douc, Saola (known as the Asian Unicorn and one of the rarest animals on earth), Bengal Slow Loris and Burmese Python. These species are threatened by hunting for food and medicine and illegally logged with nearby habitats still suffering from the effects of Agent Orange used during the Vietnam war.

75 million square metres of forest in Vietnam, India and more need to be regenerated & protected which is where you come in. Through an in-store and on-line campaign, ‘Help Reggie Find Love’, features Reggie, a Red-Shanked Douc from Vietnam, one of the species being given a chance to live safely and repopulate, customers will directly support the project. Every customer transaction will restore and protect one square metre of habitat in the forest. This playful campaign to find Reggie love will help bring this serious issue to life in an engaging and entertaining way.

The protected areas of forest will enable wildlife to travel safely across deforested or degraded lands, linking habitats and encouraging them to connect with each other and breed.

In this first project, The Body Shop is working with World Land Trust and its partner, Vietnam-based Viet Nature Conservation Centre, to protect the area and its wildlife through regular patrolling and utilising camera-traps. Viet Nature also works closely with the local community to encourage sustainable forest resource use and farming and with schools to encourage involvement.

The second Bio-Bridge project will begin in late 2016 in the Garo Hills of India. This project will also be delivered in partnership with World Land Trust and their partner Wildlife Trust of India.

The campaign will launch in The Body Shop stores globally this summer.

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